Beyond the central duo’s initially sparsely connected threads and the splendid addition of Peter Sarsgaard as Ray Seward, a hollow-eyed Death Row inmate, much of the narrative meanders--so slow, bleak and dreary, it’s difficult to muster much interest as to when (inevitably) it’s all going to begin to intersect.

While it’s great fun to have Holder back--you could make a TV show out of him just walking and talking and it would be fantastic, because Kinnaman is so compelling--the Seattle street urchins at the core of the murder mystery are almost unbearable to watch. The acting, writing and scenarios for the latter are all mediocre.

This is the closest thing to a fresh start the show is going to get, and there are some promising developments here suggesting this could ultimately be a more rewarding viewing experience than The Killing 1.0.

That initial heat from Season 1 has been lowered to room temperature. Kinnaman continues to give The Killing a pulse. But he can’t do it alone, and at this point merits a new, more vital vehicle in which he can really gun his engines.

The performances are spot-on, of course, but Enos and Kinnaman were never the show's problem. Quite the opposite, in fact. Retooling the show with the murders solved at the end makes The Killing deserving of a new lease on TV life.

The creators take a fresh start, but cling to the sepulchral atmospherics that too often take the place of narrative. The series is still suspenseful, but the dread that once again follows Sarah through damp forests, deserted tenements and shadowy, rain-washed streets diminishes with overuse.

As was the case with the first two seasons of The Killing, this new one takes its sweet, sweet time getting going, and as it slowly gains momentum, it carries itself as if it's the greatest series in the history of American television, single-handedly reinventing the police procedural for the 21st century.

The new Killing appears to have taken a sharp turn from the kind of emotional life that enriched the last season, with its drama of a disappeared daughter. In its portrait of family grief, beautifully nuanced to the end, the series landed a dramatic punch more potent than that of the key question, "Who killed Rosie?" Itself a mystery of considerable power, and one that the latest chapter of The Killing will have to go some way to equal.

The biggest disappointment about The Killing's surprising return is its strategy for cheating death: by dialing down the ambition, by becoming more conventional. Still: It's good enough. And for this show, that's a strong step in the right direction.

Excellent premiere that is heading in a far better direction as compared to season 2! Mood remains paramount; it is a very blue show,Excellent premiere that is heading in a far better direction as compared to season 2! Mood remains paramount; it is a very blue show, temperamentally and visually. The Seattle we see here is a kind of parallel Seattle, darker, rainier, more mountainous, less American than the actual city. (Because it is Vancouver, to begin with.) For all the establishing-shot flyovers of the city, whenever we are on the street, we are somewhere else, a fundamentally poetic place whose soggy decrepitude has a vaguely post-apocalyptic feel.…Full Review »

This show is all about the mood. There is a constant uneasiness and unsettling quality to the show (similar to movies like Silence of theThis show is all about the mood. There is a constant uneasiness and unsettling quality to the show (similar to movies like Silence of the Lambs and Seven). This is done mostly with the visuals (locations, cinematography, lighting). Great locations and great camera work really help sell the grimy, dark tone of the show. The story of season 3 seems to be playing to that quality even more. Overall, it's a darker storyline. Overall, however, the show is just too slow and dull. Outside of Holder, the characters are just so bland. Most of the characters are generic and have the same dull, depressed personality. It's basically like they tried to stretch out a Law & Order episode into an entire season...but they didn't add enough interesting things to fill in all that extra time...so what you're left with is just a very long, slow-moving episode of Law & Order.…Full Review »

Hardly any suspense, street kids subplot is disjointed, characters not so compelling even though their respective situations are hard up andHardly any suspense, street kids subplot is disjointed, characters not so compelling even though their respective situations are hard up and sad. Death row subplot is mostly just there for the gore effect. Not the tension between Holder and Linden, and between Linden's head and heart that were present last season are just missing here.

I'll probably stick with it for next couple episodes to see if it gets more interesting. But, here's my verdict on episode 3: I got up midway thru and finished the dishes in the kitchen. Yawn.…Full Review »